What does FUQ stand for?
Frequently Unanswered Questions. Apart from looking amusing to my kind of mind when the acronym is read, it also provides a hint. Although I will answer a question when I see a need for the asker to be dissuaded from a grave error or guided to the right decision, I will not keep answering the same question over and over. That is what this page is here for. The acronym can be credited to the folks at My Cat Hates You, one of the few examples of Internet “memes” that is actually funny. Although their FUQ is not on there anymore, the original humour factor (cats in interesting poses with funny captions) is all accounted for.
Why are you posting this? (aka My Child Is (X), You Are (Y), So Why Are You Speaking?)
In a truly democratic world, everyone has the right to speak up when they feel a need. And in the case of something that has the potential to ruin, destroy, and end one’s life, that person as a right to be heard. Autistic adults, particularly those who are capable of using a toilet without any real aid, are being denied the latter right. So if you are so offended that what you presume to be best for the incommunicado autie you claim to know is contradicted by what I write, blow me. And another thing: just because the person you refer to is not speaking does not mean they are not trying to tell you something. For all of the listening you do, it could well be something that resembles what I say here.
You are only promoting one side of the autistic conundrum – yours…
That is partly right. I can only speak for myself and those who have commonalities with me, or those who have told me in some manner, “XYZ, and you can quote me on that”. But there is a problem here. If you think that I am somehow being unfair to you and your little bundle of joy whom you have been trying to teach to tie his own shoes for two years, I have news for you. You are already overrepresented in terms of how the media represents autism and the autistic. So if you do not like what I am writing on the behalf of a grown man who still has PTSD symptoms whenever he catches sight of a school (and had serious difficulty with tying his shoes), you are welcome to start reading something else. Nobody here is holding a gun to your head (yet), and whilst I can lead you to the pool of knowledge, I cannot force you to drink.
And whilst we are on that subject, attitudes like yours will ensure that the child you speak of will resemble me in another twenty to thirty years.
What is a Powell Aspie?
Just as there are different types of people with cancer, diabetes, or mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, there are many different types of people who were born on the autistic spectrum. This video by AutTV (a project I was associated with in the early stages) is an attempt to explain the general differences between types. This attempt is complicated by the fact that many people, if not most, are a mix of multiple types. I use the phrase “Powell Aspie” in reference to myself in order to simplify discussion a bit, and also to help prove my point(s). (Before I go on, fair warning: the audio on the video I have linked will hurt to listen to. It is not one I contributed to the project, so hit mute before watching.)
At about 1:24, the video begins to mention its definition of the Powell type. For those who would prefer to read it here, the first segment of text runs “Aggressive, possibly has PTSD/BPD, intelligent, hostile in general, and can become violent at times” (I corrected it for proper comma usage). Text in the website article also states things such as possibly having been abused as a child, and very much feels a need to assert their right to exist and/or be heard through aggression. Worth noting is that most of the characters in Blade Runner who represent the autistic are very much Powell types.
I disagree with something/everything that you wrote in (insert article name here)…
Then leave a comment! One of the things that we seem to have forgotten in spite of the Internet is that in a truly democratic society, multiple points of view contribute to the thriving and continuation of that society. Although one cannot reasonably expect me to modify what I have written unless the content is factually inaccurate, I will gladly publish any and all comments that open a potential reader’s experience of the subject in question. But I also reserve the right to post a comment in reply stating exactly what I think of what you have said.
May I send you ideas for an article?
The short answer is that I do not like having things sent to me as ideas because if I act on them, I may catch hell later about where I got the idea from.
The longer answer is that if you do feel a need to send me a link or an idea that you would like to see me write about, please do so in the following manner. Give me a rough summary of what the idea is. Tell me why the idea matters to you. Tell me a little bit of background concerning the idea, such as how the subject of your idea impacts on you. Tell me places I can go to in order to find further information concerning your idea. But do not, repeat do not, tell me anything you would write about the idea if you were writing it yourself. Whilst I do like to quote other peoples’ works in things I write from time to time, it is for a specific reason. I do not just do it for the fun of it.
Lastly, if you do want to collaborate on something and are willing to work out a means to deal with all that entails, then contact me through here, and perhaps we can work something out.
You talk almost endlessly about people you hate. Is there anyone in the world that you like/love?
This is a deceptively simple question. There are people in this world I care about, but I am not going to name any of them here for fear that someone who bears me ill will might come after them. Yes, that is a perfectly valid and supportable fear for someone who is arguing or fighting for the civil rights of the autistic to have. Further, whilst I might welcome being notorious for being willing to get into verbal or physical punch-ups on the behalf of me or my kind, the people who matter to me might not welcome notoriety that easily. Any decision about being known to others is best left to the individual, and I will not take away the rights of the people I care about in that respect.
Having said that, in case you were wondering, I am for all intents and purposes single, and do not expect that will change anytime soon. If you are enough of a masochist to discover on your own how much of a Powell type I really am, feel free to drop me a word by email or the comments section.
What would you like on your tombstone?
I am undecided as of yet. Ideas keep coming to mind, but they are as transient as my short-term memory seems to be in recent years. Something to the effect that life is only precious when you have precious things in your life would probably be the best choice.
Why are all the graphical elements on your journal themed around TRON: Legacy?
I answered that question here, already. For those who are too lazy to read the answer proper, the nitty-gritty is that if you make me an arseload more girly and a lot less violence-prone, you get Quorra.
I Still Find It So Hard... 
Your blog is very interesting, I have a lot to explore! In my country it’s almost midnight and I’m very tired today, but I hope you don’t mind me coming back during the weekend to continue reading. Have a good day
Coming back, especially with others who might need to be better-informed, is encouraged. Admittedly, I have been a bit behind the pace with updates lately, but hopefully this will change soon.
I’ve been harassed about not being sexually active and seeking out those types of favors. It’s become so annoying that I almost never talk to women. I’m wondering if people are calling me a sex chaser because of ASD, would you suspect that? Or maybe I’m being teased because I’m a young man?
Truthfully, I have no idea how I would answer either question. But what you are describing is literally reprehensible behaviour, and deserves to be responded to as such.
The problem is that “Partying and BS’ing” with women isn’t “politically correct” due to all the rape and teen pregnancy garbage. I’m wondering if this will threaten neurodivergent survival, though…
I start to think that this is the idea… people have become FAR less tolerant of the truly weird these days. If they cannot label it, pigeonhole it, they might not show it, but inside they FREAK OUT. Including – or especially – closeted or undiagnosed AS people. I see it all over the place, usually with hindsight (like with a lot of interactions – in realtime this level of insight is a bit much to process, eh, probably symptomatic of my AS, who knows for sure).
Thus, it is harder to approach women (I am a good looking male who used to abuse alcohol a LOT to enable this, to numb the strain of pushing myself to approach and act normal or in an ironic inversion of that, be myself – the right proportion of the two, which is tricky).
I get to the point where I believe that women oppress people into conformity via giving out favour. They themselves might be happier if they were more tolerant, but they have the power, know it, and of course it varies subjectively from individual or group to another, but women are the sex that the other sex comes to, makes the effort to seduce, not the other way around, basically. The so-called ‘passive’ ones. A bit of a lie, really, but the point is that the brainwashing has been effective.
Those who can think for themselves are a threat, to the powers-that-be.
So breeding them out of the population could be a motivation.
That said, plenty of geeks are getting paid these days, so… not quite the threat to the sub-species, after all. but conformity is still CRUSHING.
I am a Powell Aspie. Interesting that you gave me a new label.
I’ve seen some severe shit in my life (other circumstances PLUS the AS, BOTH of which would’ve been hard for most people and were for me, double-whammy for me – PTSD and shit galore and the fucking scumbags who’re supposed to help with that – even the diagnosis, are constantly pretending that because I mask it so well, that it’s non-existent – even though the diagnostic tools exist for that scenario. They’re just not being deployed in my case, and I have to ask myself what logical conclusion that might entail… Lying is usually the reason. About what (their own prejudices against AS people) is another matter. Arsehole people do not like having the mirror held up to themselves, do they?
Anyway, a belated THANK-YOU to you Dean.
Oh, and to get off my apparent ‘bashing of women’ a bit – they also SUFFER the being forced to conform, too.
But that’s really my whole point – it’s in THEIR hands, if they can’t metaphorically or physically grow a pair, then hey, at least don’t lie about biological differences and requiring testosterone to be aggressively-independent (amongst other components of the recipe, at least).
In a sense, the projection onto men as if men are the slave-masters, is a complete fuck-up of a red herring. Backwards, and not going to provide solutions any time soon.